Miraculous Comicon
by lillykleaf
Summary: AU- non miraculous. Marinette and Alya are the artist and author behind the popular Ladybug comicbook and Adrien Agrest is a fan of their work. One day at ComiCon...
1. Chapter 1

**This is a non-miraculous AU where Ladybug is a comic book series written and drawn by Alya and Marinette (respectively) and Adrien is an avid fan. As the title suggests it takes place at a ComiCon. I do not own anything to do with Miraculous Ladybug. Enjoy!  
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Marinette was rearranging the displays on the table when a voice called out to her. "Marinette, help me!"

She knew that voice. Her face flushed red before she even turned around. Running towards her, eyes wide with panic, was Adrien Agrest. She sighed and tried to control her heart. "H-how you can? I-I mean, how can I help you?"

"I broke your jacket. Can you fix it?"

If she wasn't so flustered she'd have sighed. "You paid for it. It's your jacket, but let me see the damage and I'll let you know if I can help." She stepped back and eyed him carefully. Today he was dressed up as Tamaki from Ouran Highschool Host Club. With his naturally blond hair styled just right, the resemblance was uncanny, aside from the green eyes that stood in contrast to Tamaki's blue.

The problem was glaringly obvious. The button of his light blue jacket was missing and the button hole had ripped.

Not trusting herself to speak, she motioned for him to hand it over. She reached under the table for her sewing kit as he slid out of the jacket and laid it in front of her. She held up her hand, not meeting his gaze. "Button."

He offered it to her like he was holding a wounded bird, and she took it hoping he didn't notice how her hands shook. "Can you save it?"

"How long do you have to wait?"

He bit his lip. "The indi comic book publishing panel should be starting in thirty minutes, and Ladybug will be on it. I want to get in line for that in the next fifteen."

Thirty minutes?! Crap, she needed to get going. "The button is easy, but this rip is a bit harder."

His eyes turned big and sad. "So, you can't fix it?"

"I-I didn't say that. I won't have time to fix it properly, but I can jerry-rig something for you." She finished the button and snipped the thread, then fished her hand around in her Con bag to find fabric tape. She handed him the jacket and ripped off enough fabric tape to run the length of the rip. When he put it on, she held the torn fabric together as smoothly as possible, applied the tape to the back, then pulled the button through and pressed the two sides of the coat together, trying to ignore how she could feel his abs beneath the fabric. "There. That should hold for now. If it doesn't hold, you can come back later and I'll do something more permanent."

He beamed at her. "Thanks, Marinette. Are you going to cosplay this year?"

She laughed nervously. "You know I don't cosplay."

He frowned. "It's such a shame. There are so many possibilities. Especially with your sewing talent. It would help promote your business."

She blushed and looked away. "That's what customers are for."

He grinned. "And I tell everyone who asks that it's a Marinette original. I should get a discount on the next piece I order from you for being such a good customer. I'd be happy to model some of it for your website."

"She could pay you in cookies like she does me." A voice interrupted as a slender brunette teenager came to lean on the table beside Marinette.

"Manon, get back to work," Marinette chided.

Adrien raised his eyebrows. "Cookies?"

"Marinette makes the best cookies. Like wifeu level cookies," Manon said.

"Which you will get none of if you don't get back to work," Marinette warned her, face now red.

"You've been holding out on me!" Adrien said. "I didn't know you could bake."

"It's just something I did to bond with my parents. Anyway, don't you need to get in line for that panel?"

Adrien checked his phone and cursed. "You're right. I should get going." Before she could protest, he shoved some cash into her tip jar and ran off, presumably to get in line for the panel. Speaking of which…

She felt her phone go off and looked down to see a text from Alya. Are you getting ready? Staff wants us ready in fifteen.

"Manon, are you good to take over until I get back?"

The brown-haired teen turned to look at her. "Yeah. Get going. You should have left ten minutes ago."

Marinette took off, shooting a text to Alya to let her know she was on her way. First, she made a pitstop to the bathroom to change. She locked herself in and pulled the outfit out of her Con bag, carefully brushing her hair into twin pigtails and wrapping them in red ribbon. A bit of red to her eyes, some spirit glue to keep the mask in place, and then she pulled on her costume. The unassuming woman who entered left in bold red and black, turning heads as she went.

"Ladybug!" Someone squealed. "Can I get a photo with you?"

Marinette hesitated. "I'm sorry, but I'm about to be late for a panel. Find me later and I promise I will."

The teenager nodded, understanding, but looking put out. Marinette felt a twinge of guilt, but realized that if she were late for the panel, Alya would kill her.

"If you make it quick, we can do one photo," she said, accepting that Alya would kill her for sure.

The girl squealed and snapped a quick selfie, quickly heading back over to her awaiting friends as she shouted her thanks.

Marinette took off running before anyone else could try to talk to her. A staff member caught her outside the vendor's hall and escorted her to the room she'd be speaking in with Alya and some other people. They bypassed the line of people waiting, and she made a beeline to Alya behind the discussion table.

"What took you so long?" her friend hissed as they started letting people in to take their seats.

Marinette offered her an apologetic smile. "I got caught up as other me and ran behind a bit. A client asked for help with a wardrobe malfunction, and then a fan asked for a photo."

Alya rolled her eyes. "Girl, you are too nice. You need to learn to tell people no."

"I tell people no all the time," Marinette protested.

Alya scoffed, then straightened and turned to look at the gathered audience. They could talk more later; for now, it was business time. Marinette took a couple of deep breaths and closed her eyes to get into her persona of Ladybug.

"Thank you all for coming," the staff member said. "I know that you all have a lot of questions, so we're going to set the mic up here and do a Q and A. One question per person, unless we get through everyone first, and, please, no asking the panel members if they'll read your manuscript. We have writing panels later in the day and more tomorrow if you want feedback. Without further adieu, we will now start the indi comic book publishing panel."

There was a smattering of applause and a scrabble for some of the more eager participants to get towards the front of the line.

"Oh look, your boyfriend is back again," Alya hissed under her breath, pointing to Adrien.

Marinette hoped that her face wasn't as red as she thought it was. "For the last time, quit calling him that!"

Alya opened her mouth to retort when the first speaker stepped up to the mic. "Umm, this question is for Ms. Cesaire: what are the benefits of doing a web series before publishing?"

Alya straightened and flashed him her brightest smile. "Good question. First, if you're not well known you want to build an audience..."

The panel went on like that with everyone falling into the rhythm of answering, and the other panel members giving their own input every now and then when they had something to contribute, even if the question hadn't been directed at them. Marinette was getting into the swing of things and was full on Ladybug by the time Adrien stepped up to the mic.

It was probably the only thing that kept her from having a heart attack at his question. "Ladybug, will you marry me?"

Alya let out a whoop of laughter, getting quite a few of the crowd going too. Marinette merely raised an unimpressed eyebrow as her intestines tied themselves in knots. She gave him a cool look up and down as if considering. She could practically hear the fanfics being written about the encounter between Tamaki and Ladybug, and it was that thought that got her to roll her eyes. "That would be a no, Chaton."

"Can I at least know your real name?"

A few other members of the crowd shouted in agreement.

"One question per person. Next, please," Marinette called.

He walked away, not looking put out in the slightest. The next guy walked up to the mic and looked between Adrien and Ladybug. "I'd like to ask the same question as that guy."

Marinette leaned forward to where her mic sat on the table. "Which one? Marriage, or my name?"

He flushed pink. "Umm, y-your name, please."

"Is Ladybug not good enough for you?" she asked, giving him a flirtatious smile.

He was now beet red and unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Next question, please," Alya called out, causing the still stuttering boy to shuffle away from the mic.

Most of the serious questions had already been asked so the flirting began, and the attention turned more towards Marinette specifically. Alya ate it up, jotting down some of her favorite lines to be used in later volumes of their series. Marinette hoped that the other panel members weren't annoyed with her, but the Ladybug side of her was too busy being sassy to really focus on much beyond the next quip. Their allotted time ended, and the staff member retrieved the mic from the audience and thanked everyone for attending. Everyone dispersed with Alya and Marinette heading to the restroom together.

"Adrien was persistent as ever," Alya said as soon as the restroom door swung closed behind them.

"Shhhhhh!" Marinette hissed, whipping her head around the restroom to make sure no one was there to eavesdrop.

"What? I'm sorry, but there is a hot, single man out there practically throwing himself at you, and you just told him no. I'm asking you, like I have at every signing and event we do that he shows up to- why?" Her face had gone from teasing to exasperated as she spoke. "Are you ever going to tell him?"

Marinette's face flushed scarlet. "That Felix, aka Chat Noir, is based off him?" She snorted. "I don't think I need to stroke his already inflated ego any more than it already has been."

"What about the fact that Bridgette, aka Ladybug, is based off Marinette?"

"Everyone knows that, and she's only based off of my looks because _you_ asked me to, Volpina." She spat out the name of another character from their comic series based off of high school Alya.

"No, everyone knows that Ladybug is based off of the comic artist who insists on not revealing her name and dressing up like her own character at all of her signings."

"You know how I do in crowds when it's the real me." Marinette said, leaning forward to let her head hit the porcelain sink in front of her.

Alya switched tactics and gave her friend sympathetic pats on the back. "That was back when we first started out. You're so much more confident than when we started out all those years ago."

"I've been doing Ladybug for so long, though, that it's kinda our thing. It's part of what got us noticed starting out. I wouldn't know how to not be Ladybug, especially around Adrien. I mean, he actually knows me in real life now! I can't tell him. What if he finds out Chat Noir was based off his face and thinks I'm some kind of crazy stalker or something?"

"To be fair. He is just as stalker-y as you are with how he follows you around everywhere. Which you do very little to actually discourage. He's the only one you ever call 'Chaton'."

"Well because I like him, but I can't tell him as Marinette because I get all tongue tied, but I can't tell him as Ladybug either because then he'll find out I'm Marinette."

"Yeah, what even is your life?"

Marinette groaned. "Thousands of people buying my stuff on Etsy, hundreds of personal requests for things, and I finally open my own actual, real, life shop to find out that the hot boy I've been using as a model for Chat Noir lives near me and is freakin' adorable. It's not fair. Weebs aren't supposed to be this hot."

"Oh no," Alya said dryly. "The hot boy you're crushing on likes you back. Go tell him who you are and start kissing already."

"He doesn't like me. He likes Ladybug. It's not the same thing, and if I ever told him who I was at this point, I think he'd be disappointed and creeped out."

Alya raised an eyebrow. "You know you're crazy, Girl."

Marinette just whined and turned to look at her from where she was resting her head against the sink.

Alya leaned over and patted her head. "There there, get a hold of yourself. We've been in here too long, and I'm certain he's waiting outside to talk to you. Are you going to head over to the Ladybug booth and do some singing?"

"Can you go check on Manon and make sure everything is going well over there?"

"Why can't you go?" Alya said, straightening and heading towards the door.

Marinette snorted and gestured to herself.

"Right, Ladybug doesn't go to Marinette's Designs." She opened the door and turned back with a grin. "I was right. He's out here."

Marinette wasn't sure if she should grimace or grin and was certain her face was twisted in some red combo of the two. Leaning against the wall, his cocky smirk in place and looking far too good in that suit, was Adrien. He pushed off the wall and headed towards her as soon as she was clear of the bathroom doors. "Afternoon, My Lady. It's good to see you again."

"Hello. Enjoying the Con?"

He beamed as he sidled up beside her. "Much more now that I've seen you."

"Well, always happy to make a fan's day," she said.

She started walking towards the booth with him sticking right beside her. "Are you following me?"

He came closer. "How can I help it when you're so irresistible?"

She laughed and pushed him back by the nose with her hand. He made a grab for it and tried to kiss her knuckles but she pulled her hand out of his and flicked his nose. If he was upset by the rejection, he didn't show it. He let his hand fall to his side and kept walking with a wide smile.

"Follow me if you've got nothing better to do, but keep your hands to yourself, Chaton," she warned, marching on ahead of him so he wouldn't see her blush.

They headed over to Alya's booth and were only stopped three times along the way for pictures. Marinette was thankful when they reached the booth. Nino was manning it while her best friend was away.

"Hey, Nino. Everything go well?"

He nodded in her direction. "Sup, Dudette? Alya said you'd be heading this way."

"I agreed to do signings for an hour," she told him, slipping into the extra chair and pulling a pen from her Con bag.

Adrien hovered off to the side of the table. He exchanged greetings with Nino, having met when Nino came along to help out with other signing events.

A line had already started to form, so Marinette got to work signing books and scraps of paper and whatever else was shoved in front of her. Nino ran the cash side of things, handing out comics and paraphernalia to those who paid. Adrien just patiently waited off to the side, occasionally taking pictures with people when they came up and asked.

"I love your costume!" she heard one girl squeal as she wrapped an arm around him and held up a peace sign for the camera.

"Thanks," he told her, disentangling himself as soon as the mini photoshoot was done. "Marinette made it. Her booth is three rows down. She takes commissions."

Marinette smiled at that, but overall was starting to feel uneasy. She only had fifteen minutes left before her hour was up. Then she'd change back and help Manon with her own booth.

Adrien was still here. What was he still doing here? He wasn't talking for the most part, letting her focus on her other fans, but he was really close and acting twitchy, like he was nervous about something.

Alya came to relieve her when her time was up, and Marinette started heading in the direction of the restroom so she could change.

Someone grabbed her hand. "Ladybug, wait!"

She turned to see it was Adrien. "I'm sorry, but I'm not signing anything else right now. You had your chance."

"That's not what I was going to ask you about." His face flushed red.

She raised an eyebrow. "What is it then?"

"I noticed you're not scheduled to do anything else until this evening and wondered if you wanted to hang out for a bit. They have an open tournament right now of Ultimate Mecha Strike 3.

She gave him a sad smile, but shook her head. "I'm sorry. I have somewhere I need to be."

"Could I come with you then?"

Her eyes widened in panic. "No," she said too quickly. "I m-mean, no thank you. I need to take care of some stuff up in my hotel room, and I'd rather do it alone."

"Uh, okay." Adrien looked disappointed, but he took a deep breath and tried one last time. "How about I take you to dinner before your next panel. There's a great sushi bar near here."

"Adrien," she said quietly. "You don't like me. You don't even know me."

"I do know you," he argued. "True, I don't know that much about you, but I'm trying to."

It hurt telling him no, but she just couldn't see him liking Marinette. "You like a girl in a mask. You don't even know my real name."

"I would if you told me."

Before she could answer someone else behind her squealed. "Juleka!"

From her perspective, Marinette could see a tall goth girl waving at whoever had shouted behind her. Running feet, and then someone clipped her elbow to reach her friend. While they only clipped her, the petite figure in a pink wig full on ran into Adrien and they two went down in a spectacular crash. Marinette and the girl she assumed was Juleka came rushing over.

"Are you alright?" both asked the duo on the ground.

Adrien groaned, having taken the brunt of the fall, but the girl popped up looking shamefaced. "I am so sorry. I should have been paying more attention to where I was going!"

Despite her attempts to help him up, she wasn't strong enough. He waved her off. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" She hovered over him, her face etched in concern.

"Yeah, go on. Thanks for your concern; be more careful in the future." He got up and dusted himself off with bravado to show he was alright.

"Okay then." She let her friend pull her away.

Only once she was gone did he do a more thorough inspection and notice the elongated rip in his jacket. "Mari's gonna kill me." He hissed, looking down at his jacket in dismay.

She wasn't even thinking when she replied with, "I will not."

He snapped his head up to meet her eyes. "What?"

* * *

 **There's one more installment to come with a possible sequel if you guys like it. Reviews are always appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all SO MUCH for the reviews and likes and favorites. I really appreciate it. I tried to reply to all of them. One had massaging turned off so I'd like to take this moment to send a shout out to RoseSama and thank them for their kind words. I'll get right into the story now, but stay tuned at the end for more from yours truly.**

 **I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.**

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"I said, she will not," Marinette said, resisting the urge to kick herself. "Marinette's not like that."

He stared at her, open mouthed. "You know Marinette?"

She clenched her jaw, panic rising. "I have to go." She ran into the bathroom and was grateful for the lack of a line so she could throw herself into the nearest stall.

Her eyes blurred with tears as frustration took her. "STUPID! Stupid Marinette. Stupid, big-mouthed, loose-lipped Marinette." She closed her eyes and took long, slow breaths to get herself back under control. There wasn't time to cry. She had a business to run, and she couldn't leave Manon to run it by herself, able body though the teenager was. First, she peeled off the suit, carefully rolling it to store in a plastic bag inside her Con bag, then started removing the mask with a q-tip. Next came the make-up with wipes presoaked in makeup remover. Finally, she pulled her hair back out of the pigtails, letting it fall around her shoulders. She looked down at herself, now attired in her normal clothes, and took one last steadying breath before exiting the stall.

"What took you so long?" Manon asked when Marinette returned.

"There were some complications in the bathroom," she said, not wanting to lie, but also not wanting to admit to her near mental breakdown.

"I don't want to know," Manon said, holding up her hands with a grimace. "Well, some people came by wanting to know if you took custom orders. I got their information and put it in the purple folder under the table. Also, those maid outfits have been selling like hotcakes. We're probably going to need to restock before the day is out."

"Thank you, Manon. You've been great," Marinette told her, scooping up the aforementioned folder.

Manon beamed at the compliment. "I know. Oh. Someone is here to see you."

"Who is it- Adrien?!" She squeaked out the last word.

He appeared from behind the clothing racks. Startled, Marinette dropped the folder she'd been holding. Adrien bent forward and picked it up for her, looking sheepish. "Hey, Marinette. I'm sorry, but I managed to ruin the jacket again." He held up the garment to show the widened rip.

"You have the luck of a black cat." Her exasperation overpowered her nerves as she dropped her bag to fish out her sewing kit.

"I swear, I'm not doing this on purpose!"

"I know. If ever I thought you were, I'd stop selling you things to save them from abuse." She had her needle threaded and held her hand out for his jacket.

His eyes went wide. "I swear. I'm not!"

Keeping her eyes on her project, she found that she could talk to him normally as long as she didn't make eye contact. "You just said that, and I believe you. Calm down. I'm not serious."

His shoulders dropped in relief. "That's good."

A silence grew between them, thick and awkward. "You know," Marinette said eventually, "this will take a while. You can go back to whatever you were doing, and I can text you when I'm done."

"No, no. I'm good. I'd feel bad just running off and leaving you to work on this alone."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them once more as Adrien fidgeted, like he was trying to work up the courage to say something else. Manon danced around them, dealing with other customers and shooting suggestive looks at Marinette over Adrien's head. Marinette was sorely tempted to stick her tongue out at the girl, but couldn't with Adrien being right in the line of sight- as the little bugger well knew. She was so distracted, she didn't hear what Adrien said the first time around. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Adrien cleared his throat and tried again. "Sooo…... you know Ladybug."

Marinette yelped as she stabbed herself with a needle.

"Are you alright?"

She shook her hand as if that could cast the pain away, then held it up for inspection. "No blood. No foul."

"I'm sorry, am I distracting you?"

"Oh no, you're fine. I'm just a klutz," she assured him.

Still, he dropped the topic for the time being and chose to simply watch her sew. She was already almost done. Her stitches were quick and efficient from years of practice. The rip was still visible, but not immediately noticeable, and she was pretty sure he could hide it for pictures. She back stitched and tied it off in the back before snipping the thread.

"Alright, all done," she said, handing it back to him.

"If you're done flirting, I could use some help over here," Manon called out with a smirk.

Marinette flushed deep red and rushed over to help Manon check out the waiting customers. "Not funny, Manon."

"What? You like him, he likes you. Just ask him out already." Manon knew that Marinette was Ladybug and was enjoying watching her boss squirm uncomfortably.

"You know, Manon, we're getting really low on those maid outfits. Why don't you go back to the room and bring down a box so we can restock?"

"Sooo…" Adrien said, sidling up to Marinette once more. Manon huffed and finished up with her customer. "You never did answer my question. Do you know Ladybug?"

"You know what, Manon, how about I go to the hotel room instead. You're doing such a good job here; I'd hate to interrupt your flow." She turned to leave, but Manon was already moving as well. They tripped each other and both went down, knocking over Marinette's Con bag. The contents spilled everywhere, and all three bent down to help gather it up amongst a trio of 'I'm sorry's and 'are you okay's.

"Ladybug?!"

Marinette's head snapped up to see Adrien holding her Ladybug mask, looking at her in shock. Her heart stopped in panic. She snatched it up and shoved what was left on the ground into the bag. "Gottogobye." She took off running through the crowd.

"Marinette! WAIT!" Adrien called after her as he tried to follow.

But she was small and an expert at crowd weaving, so she quickly lost him. She ran, ignoring the stitch in her side and not stopping until she reached the elevator to take her to her hotel room. Only once inside did she stop to take a breath. She slid to the ground with a groan, feeling mortified with herself. The elevator dinged, and she shoved herself out of it, stumbling down the hall and into her room before finally flopping onto the bed.

She fished her phone out of her pocket and sent a text to Alya.

 **I'm dead.**

It took a minute before she got a reply and the one she got wasn't entirely what she was expecting.

 **Why are you dead and why is Adrien at my table asking what room you're staying in?**

Marinette groaned and flopped her face back into the starchy hotel pillow. When she didn't respond, Alya started calling her. Marinette raised her head to stare at the little screen, trying to decide whether or not to answer it. She took too long. It went to voicemail, but almost immediately it started up again. If that was how she was going to be, Marinette figured she had better get it over with.

"Hey, Alya," she said bringing the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Marinette, can we please meet somewhere to talk?" a deep, decidedly male and definitely familiar voice said.

She screamed and hung up, throwing the phone across the room. She regretted immediately, wanting nothing more than to call him back. The phone went through two more ring cycles before whoever was trying to reach her now gave up. She wallowed in misery until a knock at the door drew her attention.

"Mari, it's me. Can I come in?" It was Alya.

Marinette sighed. Why couldn't her friend leave well enough alone? "Yeah, come in."

There was a click and dip in the bed to let Marinette know that Alya had entered and was sitting at the edge. "Adrien talked to me. Do you want to tell me your side of the story?"

"Alyaaaaaa," she moaned, "I screwed everything up. I'm sure he hates me now."

"That's not the impression I was given when he came to see me. If anything, he thinks you hate him, what with the way that you ran out of there like you had hellfire on your heels."

"I ruined everything!" she exclaimed.

"You _could_ just go talk to him."

"But I screamed at him on the phone. I literally screamed. And when he found the mask I just panicked and ran off. There's no way I could face him now. He must think I'm some kind of spastic freak."

"Well, you kind of are."

Marinette lifted her head from her pillow to glare at her best friend. "Not. Helping."

Alya gave a longsuffering sigh. "Okay look. You like him, right?"

"Yeah."

"And he likes Ladybug?"

"He's made that abundantly clear," Marinette confirmed dryly.

"And now he knows that you are Ladybug, and since finding out he's been trying his hardest to talk to you, meaning that he still likes Ladybug which means he likes you so why are you hiding in this hotel room when you could be kissing his face like you've been fantasizing about for forever now?"

"But what if he's just trying to talk to me so he can tell me that I ruined his image of Ladybug and he never wants to see me again."

Alya raised her eyebrow. "You really think Adrien would do that?"

"Well, no. But-"

"No more buts. You are going to go and talk to that poor boy before this gets any more out of hand."

Marinette sighed once more and rolled into a sitting position. "You're right."

"You know I am. Also, don't be mad, but I saved you a step."

Marinette sat up straighter and gave her friend a suspicious stare. "Alya, what did you do?"

There was a cough, and Marinette turned to see Adrien standing in the doorway looking sheepish. "Hey, Marinette."

A strangled noise came out of her throat before she toppled off the bed. Alya leaned over to look down at her, a small smirk dancing around her mouth.

"I will kill you," she hissed up at her before struggling to her feet. Adrien was, indeed, still there. "Um, h-hi, Adrien. How long were you standing there?"

"The whole time. Alya told me to."

She turned to glare at her best friend, who threw up both hands in a defensive gesture. "Look, I know you, and I know how you deal with stressful situations. I just helped you say everything you wanted to say without you putting your foot in your mouth. Also, I approve of this sunshine child and think he deserves a chance." Marinette made a swat at her, which Alya easily dodged as she bounced up from the bed and headed out the door, shoving Adrien further inside. "I've done all I can. Now it's up to you two to work it out on your own. Don't forget that you have a panel to attend in two hours!"

Just like that, she was gone, leaving two red-faced adults alone in a hotel room.

The silence grew stifling. "I am so sorry about her," Marinette finally said.

"No, it's alright. I'm kinda grateful to her. Even if her methods are a little…extreme."

Marinette buried her hands in her face and groaned. "I'm so embarrassed. Look, we can just tell her that you let me down easy and never speak of this again."

He cocked his head to the side and took a cautious step closer. "Why would I want to do that?"

Marinette rubbed her arm, unable to make eye contact. "Well, now that you know who Ladybug is, I assume you're disappointed or something."

"Or something."

She looked up, brows furrowed. "Pardon?"

He was now walking towards her with more confidence. "You said 'disappointed or something' I'm definitely not 'disappointed' so then I must be 'or something'. I hope that's okay."

Marinette's breath caught both at his words and his nearness. "Ummm y-yeah. Fine. That's f-fine."

"You're stuttering again," he said quietly.

She looked down, her face now bright red. "An old nervous habit. It was a lot worse back in high school, but I don't do as much anymore."

"You stutter around me all the time." His voice was quiet now, but he was so close he could have been whispering, and she still would have heard him clearly.

"You make me nervous."

"Oh." Funny how a single word could sound so sad. It pulled at her heart strings, but Marinette wasn't sure how to make it better. "Was what Alya said true?"

"Which part?"

"The bit about you liking me." His hand reached out and hovered right beside her face, but he didn't bring it any closer.

Marinette wasn't sure it was possible for her face to get any more red. "Why do you think I get so nervous?"

The smile that broke across his face was almost alarming, and he tackled her in a hug. With a squeak of surprise, she hugged him back, enjoying his warmth and the solid feel of him. "Marinette, will you go on a date with me?"

"I- Adrien- I-" She tried to work up the courage to tell him no, to save themselves the heartbreak that would inevitably come.

He pulled back so he could look her in the eye. "Please, just one date. One date to give me a chance to know you and you me. That's all I was asking of Ladybug, and that's all I'm asking of you. One date to prove I'm serious."

He offered her his heart on a platter- she could see it in his eyes. "I- Oh, alright."

He engulfed her in a hug once more. "Thank you, Mari!"

"I have one condition, though," she managed to say as she tried to keep her heart from exploding with happiness.

"What's that?"

"Can we please wait until after the convention is over. I'm sorry, but there really is just too much going on."

On cue, her phone started buzzing again. They disentangled from each other so she could go retrieve it. It was from Manon.

 **If you've made up with your boyfriend, could you please come down with those maid outfits? We've officially run out.**

Marinette's cheeks flared up once more as she heard Adrien chuckle. He'd read the text over her shoulder. "I think I like how Manon thinks."

Marinette managed a frown as she went over and picked up a cardboard box. "Watch it, or I'll take back my yes."

"Ah, but Ladybug would never go back on a promise, so I know I'm good for at least the first date," he said smugly, picking up another box labeled 'maids' before stealing the one Marinette had been holding.

Marinette let him, picking up her Con bag once more and holding the door open. "Well, you don't know about Marinette, so I'd still suggest you watch it, you cat."

"I believe you mean Chat Noir," he said, giving her a cheeky wink as he headed to the elevator.

"In your dreams," she told him with a laugh.

He gave her an endearing smile as he pushed the down button with his elbow. "Don't I know it."

* * *

 **So I've thought of stopping here with the possibility of a follow up on the first date or of continuing with the rest of what happens at Comicon. I would appreciate some feedback on what you want and any ideas you have because what I've got right now is half-baked at best. Thank you all so much for reading and thanks in advance to those who review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So I've started the process of moving to another house which means that things could get a little rocky, but I promise I will finish this. I have everything outlined and know how I want it to end. Thank you all so much to everyone who has liked and reviewed. You're all such sweethearts!**

 **(A/N as I write this my black cat is digging through my purse and has now nested himself inside it. No idea why I'm sharing this with you other than it's funny to me)**

 **Without further adieu, here's the next installment!**

 **I do not own anything to do with Miraculous Ladybug.**

* * *

"Thank you. Enjoy the rest of the Con," Marinette said cheerily, as a customer walked away from their booth.

Manon sidled up beside her. "I haven't seen Adrien yet today."

Marinette flushed pink. "It's not like he has to follow me everywhere or anythingsomething."

"I know, I just kind expected him to after what happened yesterday. I'm kinda disappointed."

"Sorry to disappoint you," she grumbled under her breath. To be honest she felt rather let down herself. It had been two hours since the Con started up thefrom the day and she hadn't even received a text from the man.

Not that he was required to text her. Or come see her. They weren't dating. As she had to constantly remind herself every time she felt a stab at her heart. They weren't anything. He had just happened the day before to ask her out on a date the day before and she had just happened to confess her undying crush on him. On her part, that had been through the unasked involvement of her best friend Alya. True, she had told him that she didn't want to start anything until the ComiCon ended, but she hadn't meant that she didn't want to see him at ALL. She grit her teeth in frustration.

"Don't you need to get going soon? You've got a panel in thirty minutes."

Marinette checked the time on her phone and cursed. Manon was right. "You got this? I don't think I'll be able to come back for the rest of the day. Alya scheduled us for a bunch of panels today,." sShe said, scooping as she scooped up her Con bag.

"I got this," Manon confirmed, shooing her boss away with a wave of her hand.

Marinette ran for the nearest restroom and rushed to put on her make-up and costume in the confines of a stall. Once properly suited up, Ladybug burst out, full on running to make sure she wasn't late for her first panel of the day. Alya was waiting for her with an amused smirk on her face.

"Girl, are you even capable of being on time for anything?"

"Hush. I'm not late and I still haven't forgiven you," Marinette said.

Alya's smirk just widened. "Have you seen Adrien yet today?"

Her shoulders slumped. "No. He hasn't even texted me."

Alya put a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

Marinette narrowed her eyes at her. "What do you know?"

"Nuh-uh. You're mad at me. I'm not saying anything until I'm forgiven."

"Fine. I forgive you. Now what do you know about Adrien."

"I'm not sure how much I can say. I think he wants it to be a surprise," Alya said.

Marinette groaned.

"A good surprise," Alya assured her.

"But what kind of surprise?"

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise," Alya said.

"I take back my forgiveness."

"Oh, no you don't, gGirl. Look, I promise that it's a good thing. I think you'll like it. I can even give you a hint. It's something he's done before."

She frowned at that. Something he had done before? A staff member came and escorted them into the room. This panel was a Ladybug Q&A. They'd already had one the night before but Alya wanted to make sure all the fans in attendance had a chance to come to at least one of them. It was the Saturday, the third day of ComiCon and chaos was in full swing. They had three more panels, two signing events, and Ladybug had promised to attend the Superhero ball. Marinette was prepared for a day of no rest.

Staff members opened the doors to allow the attendees to file in. Marinette spotted him immediately and grabbed Alya's hand for support. Adrien Agrest was dressed in a tight leather suit as Chat Noir. He made a beeline for the front row and flashed her a flirty grin. She may have whimpered.

"Alya!" she hissed.

"I know. That's why I didn't want to ruin the surprise," she told her friend with a chuckle.

"I think my heart's going to explode."

"You've seen him in that outfit before."

"But that was before yesterday!" Marinette whispered franticallysaid, her voice starting to border on hysteria while also trying to keep it down. "Why is he dressed as Chat Noir? He's supposed to be Zero today. He ordered a Zero outfit. I made him a Zero outfit. Is he going to follow me everywhere dressed like that?"

Alya chuckled. "I think yesterday's events called for a change of plans."

"Alya, he's too hot! I can't handle this."

"Okay look," Alya grabbed her friend by her shoulders and twisted her so their eyes met., "Yes, he's hot. But gGirl, you are too. You are rocking skin tight spandex, and you look sexy while doing it. You are Ladybug. We have a room full of people in here besides just Adrien and we all need you to be Ladybug."

Marinette took a deep breath and summoned theher confidence that came with a mask. "Right, be Ladybug. I am Ladybug. I am strong, confident, and sexy."

"Damn straight," Alya said, turning back to beam at the crowd.

The announcer had already started to introduce them. Marinette forced herself to focus.

*random fan questions*

Adrien raised his hand to go next. Marinette felt her cheeks go red and tried to ignore him. Alya had other ideas. "You. The one in the superb Chat Noir costume."

He beamed at her. "Why, thank you. I had a question for Ladybug."

"Go for it," Alya said.

"Would My Lady give me the honor of a kiss?"

The room screamed. Marinette was grateful because it covered her own little freak out. Once people quieted down she leaned forward. "I don't think so, Chaton."

"KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS!" tThe crowd chanted.

"Why don't you give the people what they want, Ladybug?" Alya whispered to her with a teasing look.

With a defiant look at her friend, Marinette stood up and walked around the table. The crowd went silent, though the whole room vibrated in anticipation. Adrien looked flustered; perhaps , he hadn't thought she'd go through with it. Slowly, deliberately, she walked towards where he sat until their knees touched. She watched his Adams apple bob when he swallowed and smirked. She placed her hands on the back of the chair he was sitting on, locking his head in place and leaned in. Her lips paused just above his, and she could feel his breath against her face. People were starting to squeal, and she was keenly aware of the cameras trained on her. Adrien had eyes only for her, his pupils blown wide.

At the very last second, she tilted her head up and placed a kiss on his nose before leaning back to admire her handiwork. The room exploded in shrieks, some people jumping in their chairs as they clutched their friends and fangirled. Adrien stared up at her, his brain still catching up to him.

"Not fair," he breathed.

Her smirk returned and she leaned down to whisper in his ear. "If you want a real kiss, you have to take me on a date first, Chaton."

Then she pulled the still dazed man from his chair so they could face the crowd together. "Ladies and gentlemen," she announcedsaid in a loud voice to get their attention,. "Chat Noir will now be answering questions as well!"

Cries of approval went out and Adrien's head whipped around to stare at her. "Excuse me?"

"You're going to come and flirt with me in _that_ sinfully tight outfit while I'm working? Two can play at this game, mister."

The staff member was trying to get the crowd back under control. As he got everyone to quiet down, Adrien leaned down so his lips brushed her ear. "Sinfully tight, huh?"

"Sh-shut up," she said, her cheeks bursting into a blush.

He was beaming now, and she knew she was in trouble, but she couldn't quite bring herself to regret it. The staff member had regained control of the crowd again, and now many more people had their hands up to ask Chat Noir questions. The first one was completely expected.

"So are you two dating?"

Before he could answer, Marinette leaned up to him so she could whisper in his ear. "Keep it canon."

He nodded and wrapped an arm around her waist, giving the question asker a saucy wink. "What do you think?"

She twirled out of his grasp. "Now, now, Chaton."

The crowd was loving this.

"Do the fist bump thing!" someone shouted.

The two were more than happy to. "Pound it!"

Adrien then took it a step further by dropping down to one knee and brushing a kiss across her gloved knuckles.

Even Alya squealed at that.

"Guys, I think you're breaking them." Marinette heard Alya joke. Marinette's own face was quite red beneath the mask.

"Will Chat Noir be taking place at the signing event later?"

Marinette turned to see his answer. "While I could never hold a candle to My Lady, I would be more than happy to oblige."

(A/N as I write this my black cat is digging through my purse and has now nested himself inside it. No idea why I'm sharing this with you other than it's funny to me)

"Chat Noir, in the last book you were fighting Ladybug. Were you really under the Aakuma's Ccurse or just faking it?"

"I guess you'll have to read the next one to find out."

"Who is Hawkmoth?!"

"Last I checked my powers were destruction and bad luck, not clairvoyance."

The banter went on like that, with the crowd altering between trying to get hints for what was going to happen in upcoming comics to asking for various fan service. Adrien took it all like a pro. Like he really was Chat Noir. Marinette was impressed.

"Alright, everyone," Alya said, getting the group back under control, "that's all for this panel, but don't forget that Ladybug and I will be doing signings right after this."

"Will Chat Noir be there?" aAn excited Con-goer asked.

Marinette turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Well, Kitty, are you up for it?"

He brought her hand up to his mouth once more and kissed it. "I'd follow you anywhere, Bugaboo."

The room squealed again.

The three were escorted out of the room and shuffled over to an area near the vVendors that had been set aside for paid signings and photos. Staff members changed the backdrop from Avengers to a picture of Paris to use as a background for photos.

One of the staff came up to her looking nervous. "Ummm, I don't have anything on the schedule for Chat Noir. I'm so sorry."

Marinette held up a hand to calm the woman down. "It's fine. He wouldn't be on the schedule. This was kind of a last-minute thing. He's a friend of mine who thought it'd be funny to follow me around today, and the fans have been loving it. Don't worry, he's not getting paid or anything."

"Hey!" Adrien shouted.

"I'll bake you cookies later," she said over her shoulder.

That seemed to pacify him. They got their little table set up with plenty of pens and water bottlesa water bottle for everyone and got to work. This was easy and routine for Ladybug and Alya at this point. They'd been to plenty of conventions as guests and held signing events of their own. Adrien stood around awkwardly at first as he got used to the flow of things. He stood off to the side unless someone asked for him to come pose with them. Everything was going fine until there was a series of Chat Noirs who came through asking for pictures. Most of them wanted to do the classic kneeling hand kiss.

However, oneOne however was a bit more forward. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug and leaned in for a kiss., Sshe gave him her cheek and gave an unimpressed face to the camera. When the photo was over he asked her to sign his glove. She held his hand steady in hers as she did so and saw Adrien frowning out of the corner of her eye.

He was a lot quieter after that. Whenever he wasn't in the pictures, he was frowning at her. When the signing hour ended, Marinette pulled him aside for a word.

"I have thirty minutes before I have to go to my next thing so I don't have time to beat around the bush. What's wrong?"

His lip jutted out. "Nothing."

"Adrien. You're obviously upset. Talk to me."

He sighed, his clawed hands clenching and unclenching. "He kissed your cheek. He tried to kiss your lips!"

Marinette blinked at him. "Yeah, but I didn't let him."

"I know you didn't. I just- I'm just-" He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Jealous?" Marinette offered.

"Yes!" he exclaimed.

She looked around to make sure no one could overhear them and leaned in close just to be safe. "This is part of my job. If you can't handle that then I think we should stop before we get started."

His eyes widened. "No! That's not what I want. I've waited so long. Please, just give me a chance."

"Then you better find a way to not be jealous, because I can't control what fans do, and when I'm Ladybug I have an image to uphold."

He sighed in frustration. "I just- Can I try something?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Depends on what it is."

He reached out and cupped her face in his hands. "Let me know if you want me to stop." She held perfectly still and kept eye contact to let him know he could proceed. Slowly, he leaned in and rubbed his face against the cheek that the other Chat had kissed. His breath tickled across her skin causing her to giggle.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Erasing that kiss."

She let out a hum of amusement that was cut off with a shocked squeak when he placed a gentle kiss on that same cheek.

He pulled back to admire her flushed, flustered face with an amused smirk.

"F-feeling better?" she asked when she got her voice back.

"Much actually."

She pushed away from him and went to rejoin the crowd and move in the direction of the next panel. "Good, because that's all you get for the rest of Con."

Never one to be deterred, he raised an eyebrow. "And what about after?"

"You'll have to take me on that date first."

"It's a deal," he said, trailing after her happily.

* * *

 **I'm planning to introduce Chloe in either the next chapter or the one after. Once again if you have any requests, I would love to hear them and try to incorporate them. Reviews are always appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I will not abandon this and I know I'm a day late. I'm actually in the middle of moving right now and will continue to be in this situation until mid-August. I'm trying my hardest to post regularly though. Fun story- I am the that math problem that shouldn't exist in real life. Trying to mathematically predict how many boxes we can use to fill a 15 ft uhaul and also trying to figure out the logistics of how to fit 4 cats and 1 (HUGE) dog into a tiny little 2 door hatchback to drive 1,000 miles. Thankfully my husband is really good at real life tetris. Anyway, enough about me, on with the story!**

 **I do not own anything Miraculous Ladybug.**

* * *

The rest of the planned activities went off without a hitch. Word had gotten out that Chat Noir was with Ladybug, and each place they went to had bigger and bigger crowds. Adrien handled it all like a champ, keeping in character and answering questions.

She could tell he was tired by the end of it though.

"Do you want to go back to your hotel room and take a nap?" sShe asked as they left their last planned activity before the Superhero ball that night.

He yawned and stretched., Marinette was pretty sure the muscle flex was deliberate, judging by his smirk. "Naw, I'm good. I don't want to miss out on anything. What were you going to do next?"

"I'm going to check and see if Manon needs anything and go from there," she said, pulling out her phone.

 **Finished up activities for the day. Do you need anything?**

The response was almost immediate. **We're almost out of cat ears.**

 **Give me thirty minutes to change and pick up a box from the hotel**.

She slipped her phone back into her Con bag and turned to the awaiting cat cosplayer. "She needs me to pick something up from the hotel room."

"I'll come with you," he offered immediately.

"Fine, I might as well grab some other stuff while I'm there and could use an extra hand." He tried to follow, but she held up her hand. "Wait. I need to change back first. I don't want anyone seeing where Ladybug is staying."

He nodded and went to go lean against a wall. "Fair enough."

Once changed, the two headed off, walking amicably side by side. His hand brushed hers occasionally, and she was tempted to reach out and grab it, but worried he would think that was weird. To distract herself from the temptation, she pulled out her phone and started flipping it in her hands. Adrien watched with interest.

"You're pretty dexterous, aren't you?"

"What?" She looked down and saw she was flipping the phone between her fingers." "Oh, yeah, I guess. It must be from all that yo-yo practice."

"Were you always into that, or was it just an LB thing?"

"Just an LB thing. I figured if I was going to be dressing like her I might as well act like her. I learned quite a few cool tricks."

"I know. I've seen the YouTube videos," he laughed.

They had reached the hotel elevator, then and when two others got in with them, Adrien and Marinette fell into a companionable silence until they reached her hotel room. She put the room key into the card reader and popped the door open without thinking. Then promptly slammed it shut. Alya was in the middle of pulling a dress on.

"Oh my gosh. Alya, I'm soo sorry!" Marinette cried, turning to Adrien with a mortified expression. His confused looked confirmed that he hadn't gotten a glimpse.

Her friend laughed and opened the door. "Relax, it's just you."

"Uhhh. Not quite," Marinette said sheepishly.

"Adrien?!"

"I didn't see anything!" Adrien said, hands up to try and calm her.

Alya pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger and held it for a moment before letting out a slow, calming breath. "Warn a girl next time you're bringing your boy over."

Marinette flushed bright red. "I- Wwe're not- Whe's not- I came to pick up stuff for Manon!"

Alya laughed, clearly reveling in her friend's discomfort. "And here I was hoping you'd be helping make sure your masterpiece was fabulous."

"Can we come in?" Marinette asked, exasperated.

"Yeah, fine. I need you to help me zip this up anyway. It's stuck." Alya opened the door up to reveal a stunning floor length formal gown.

AThe top was a dusty pink with a deep plunging neckline made up the top. The pink hugged to her torso downup to athe white band embroidered with silver swirls and flourishes. The pink material continued past the band but there was a ruffled split over her left hip which opened to show red fabric covered in sequined spots andof black rhinestones mixed with sliver studs.

Adrien whistled appreciatively. "You made this, Marinette?"

She smiled at the implied compliment. "Yes. It's for the Superhero Ball. It's a Ladybug inspired dress, but I wanted pay homage to Bridgette's personality too. I feel like her civilian side gets overlooked far too easily."

"It's amazing. She's amazing. I'm amazing. If we could fix this zipper that would also be amazing," Alya said, lifting her arm to show the stuck side zipper.

Marinette leaned forward, forgetting about Adrien in the room as she went full designer mode. "Hmmm, it doesn't look like any thread is caught or anything. Let me get some wax and see if that helps."

She sifted through her bag and pulled out her emergency sewing kit to get a small square of clear wax. She pulled the zipper back down and carefully rubbed the wax along the teeth, making sure to keep it off the fabric, then tried again. This time it slid easily.

The two girls gave a cheer, and Alya went off to finish up her hair and makeup.

"So why is Alya wearing a Ladybug dress?" Adrien asked as Marinette went around trying to find things to take down to Manon.

"It's for tThe costume contest atfor the Superhero ball. I got her to agree to model for me. I figured it'd be good for business. I can't because Ladybug has to attend as a committee member, and I don't want people associating Ladybug with Marinette."

"Will Ladybug wear a dress?"

"Yes, she will, and you better be ready to pick your jaw up off the floor when you see her!" Alya called from the bathroom.

"Can I get a sneak peek?" Adrien asked, looking around to see if he could spot it.

"No," Marinette said, "I think it'd be better a surprise. Take these, please."

Adrien whined as he accepted the stack of boxes. Marinette ignored him and turned back to where her best friend was applying fake eyelashes. "I'll see you downstairs at the contest?"

Alya hummed her affirmative, and Marinette picked up her stuff to follow Adrien out.

"Can I at least get a hint of what your dress looks like?" Adrien asked whenask soon as she caught up with him.

"It's made of fabric."

He rolled his eyes. "A more detailed hint than that."

"That is a detailed hint. I could have made it out of paper."

"Please!"

"Ok. It's got red on it with black spots," she said.

He gave her an unimpressed look. "You're enjoying this."

"Actually yes. I'm quite proud of that dress and looking forward to seeing your face when you see it for the first time. I don't want to ruin that. I'm assuming you're going? You did have me make you a Chat Noir inspired suit after all."

"Awww man!" hHe said.

"What?"

"I was going to surprise Ladybug with that outfit. She was going to be so impressed with how hot I looked in a suit, she would finally go on a date with me."

Marinette rolled her eyes and hip checked the cat-eared boy. "Too bad she already saw it."

"You know what would make up for it?" he asked?

"What?"

"If you told me what Ladybug would be wearing."

She rolled her eyes at his smirk. "Nice try, Chaton."

The delivered the supplies to Manon and helped her restock the shelves, then Adrien trailed along behind Marinette while she went to meet up with Alya for the Superhero Ball Costume contest. They were a few minutes late, but Alya modeling was the important part. figured everything would be alright since it was really Alya modeling that was most important. How wrong could they be?

It was full chaos when they arrived. The various contestants were grouped together at one end of the conference room, being herded into some semblance of a line by the staff. People who had come to watch were assembling in the rows of chairs behind the judges' desk. They walked over to where they had spotted Alya, who worewas wearing a trench coat to make sure the dress had been protected on the way there.

One of the staff members held up a hand as they approached. "I'm sorry, but we're not taking in any more entries. You should have been here when we were doing the sign-ups."

"What?" Marinette glanced between the staff member and then followed their gaze to Adrien, who was still dressed as Chat NoirNior. "Oh. No, no. One of my friends is already in the competition. I made her dress and I wanted to make sure everything was perfect before she went on. Would that be alright?"

The staff member looked like he was about to say no when an excited voice called out. "Mari! Over here."

The trio looked to see Alya rushing towards them, looking gorgeous and excited.

"You're going to lose your spot in line,." tThe staff member warned.

"I don't need to be first for everyone to see how fabulous Mari's dress is," Alya said confidently.

"I'll be quick," Marinette assured, not wanting to cause trouble for anyone.

Alya undid the tie to her trench coat when someone with a high, shrieking voice called out, "Chat Noir! Over here!"

Adrien glanced at Marinette, unsure about leaving her.

"Go," she said with a wave of her hand, "they probably want a picture."

"I'll be right back, Purrincess."

Her lips twitched, but otherwise she managed to keep a straight face as he ran off, turning her attention instead to the dress before her.

The dress was just as perfect as before. Marinette was proud of this one. Now Alya also had jewelry to go with it. White butterflies adorned her hair and clustered into a necklace around her neck. The staff member was standing anxiously beside then, silently urging them to move, so Marinette kept her fussing to a minimum before declaring Alya perfect and heading off to find Adrien.

When she did, she froze in place. A blond, with her hair styled in an elegant high ponytail and a trenchcoat to cover her dress had wrapped herself around him and was holding up a camera for a selfie. Her dress was also obscured by a trench coat similar to Alya's. There was something familiar about her - She looked familiar and Marinette was pretty sure she'd seen her before. hHadn't she come to her store a while back and looked at everything only to complain that everything was subpar and storm out with her redhaired friend in tow? Marinette wasn't sure which was clinging to him tighter -, the leather suit or the blond. Her eye twitched and she had to remind herself that she had no right to be jealous of someone she hadn't even gone on a date with yet. Adrien saw her and tried to extracticate himself from the vicse grip he was caught in.

The girl clung tighter. "Wait. I'm not done. Oh, my fans are going to love this. You should give me your contact information and we shouldso we can do something together. Your face with my face would do wonders for my Instagram followers. We look adorable together. See, it's already racking in the likes."

"Well, it was nice meeting you-"

"Chloe. Chloe Bourgeois. I'm sure you've heard of me," she said with a toss of her perfect hair.

"Uh, sure. Anyway, it was nice meeting you Chloe, but Marinette's waiting for me."

Her eyes narrowed at Marinette. "Who's that? Your girlfriend?"

Adrien's eyes were pleading for help, but she was still surprised by what came out of her mouth. "Yes, actually, so if you could kindly remove yourself from my boyfriend, we'd like to go take our seats."

Chloe gave a huff and stepped back so she was in line again., Adrien made a beeline for Marinette as soon as he was free. "Whatever." She turned back to Adrien with a coy smile. "I am serious. I think you and I could do great things together. , Yyou should contact me so we can set something up. For business, of course."

"I- uh, I'll think about it. Thank you, Chloe."

"Bye," Marinette said, taking Adrien's hand and dragging him back to where the seats were.

"Thank you," he breathed once they were out of earshot.

"No problem. You didn't look comfortable there." She let go of his hand as they both sat down.

He reached out and picked hers up again. "So I'm your boyfriend now?"

She felt her face turn bright red, though she still managed to scowl at him. "You know I said that to get her off you."

He gave her a cocky grin. "But you still said it." He leaned closer, his forehead almost touching hers. "Admit it, you said it because you were jealous."

Instead of shying away, she leaned up to him, theirthere lips almost touching. "Admit it, you're bringing this up because you want it to be true."

Despite his blown pupils, she saw the surprise etched into his face. His pupils were blown wide and surprise was etched across his face, he hadn't expected her to take it a step further, and he didn't seem to know what to do with himself now.

The music signaling the start of the show came on and she pulled back, turning to watch. She heard a small whine from beside next to her and turned to give Adrien her flirtiest smile. "If you want to make it true, you'll have to take me on a date first, Kitty."

"There is a rapidly growing list of reasons for why I need to do that," Adrien said, giving the hand he was still holding a gentle squeeze.

Marinette laughed and squeezed back before turning her attention to the starting fashion show. She wanted to know what her fellow competitors had come up with. There were quite a few Avengers themed outfits, which made sense with all the newest movie, and Wonder Woman was quite a popular choice too, though she did see other non-mainstream superheroes including one or two other Miraculous Ladybug themed ones. Her heart glowed with pride to see that other artists had been inspired by something she'd help create.

Then came the show stopper.

Elegant in a dusty rose dress, with a white band covered in silver flourishes and a ruffled hip slit that opened to reveal spotted red fabric beneath. Worn by- not Alya. Strutting confidentltconfidently towards the judges in HER DRESS was not Alya, but Chloe.

Adrien gasped. "That's your dress!"

Marinette nodded numbly, too shocked to do anything else.

Someone else however, was not as shocked as she and bold enough to take immediate action.

"OH HELL, NO!"

Alya burst out from the line of waiting participants and marched towards the frozen blond, throwing off her trench coat as she did to reveal an identical dress. She marched up to Chloe and shoved a finger into her chest. "You thieving, little bitch!"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Chloe shrieked back.

"HOW DARE I?! HOW DARE _YOU_!" Alya shot back

"What's the meaning of this?" Adrien demanded, risingraising from his seat to join in on the chaos.

"This horrible woman stole my dress," Choe wailed, hurling herself at Adrien, who caught her on instinct then looked like he immediately regretted his actions. He turned to Marinette for help, but she could only starewas still just staring in shock, having trailed along behind Adrien to find herself also in the middle of all the chaos. With a bit of effort he did manage to free get free all by himself, then hurried to stand behind Marinette, w. Whether to hide or offer support she wasn't sure. Probably both.

"I did no such thing! You're the thief, here," Alya said, looking ready to start throwing punches any second now.

One of the judges stepped forward, trying to regain order. "Girls, please. If you could both just calm down I'm sure we can figure this out."

"Marinette!" Alya shouted, finally snapping her friend out of her stupor. "Explain to these people that this bimbo is the one who stole your design and not the other way around," Alya said, grabbing hold of her friend and turning her to face a group of frowning people.

"I snapchatted the entire process to my followers! They'll back me in saying that this whole thing is mine," Chloe shrieked, waving her phone around as if that proved a point.

"Oh, get over yourself!" Alya shot back.

"Girls, if neither of you can come up with actual, concrete evidence that one of you made the dress, I'm afraid that we'll have to disqualify both of you," another one of the judges said.

Marinette raised her hand to bring the attention back to her. "Actually, I made the dress and I can prove it."

The judges raised their eyebrows and everyone ignored Chloe's indignant shrieks. "Please, explain."

Adrien gave her an encouraging nudge making Marinette stand up straighter. "My name is Marinette. I made this dress. I designed it specifically for my friend Alya because she's the writer for the Ladybug comics, and I made this dress with her in mind."

"While a good story, this does not prove that the dress is yours," one of the judges interrupted.

"No, it doesn't, but this does." She turned around and snapped a picture of both girls, being carefulsure to include their waists. She flipped the picture upside down and held it out for the judges to look at. "You see, I sign all of my original work."

The group scrunched up in front of the small screen and looked between the picture there and the dresses. There, hidden amongst the swirling design around the waist, in upside down cursive was Marinette's name.

Chloe's face turned purple. "I'm complaining about all of you on Twitter. You better watch yourselves," and she stormed off before the judges even had a chance to tell her that she was disqualified.

"That girl was clawful," Adrien said into the shocked silence. "You were pawsitively brilliant, Marinette."

Alya snorted and it quickly devolved into full belly laughs. "Oh my gosh! You are such a NERD! Mari, keep him., He's perfect for you."

The judges were quick to regain order after that, and the rest of the fashion show went according to plan with no drama bigger than a trip on the runway.

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed the latest installment. I wanted to pay homage to the derby hat scene because I thought Marinette was the cleverest little goose in that one. Let me know what you all think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So last week I had something written to submit, but it was barely over 2,000 words and I let a friend read it. She gave it back to me and her opinion was basically, "It's good, but you could do better."**

 **So I did some heavy edits and it went from barely over 2,000 words to over 7,000 (I split it up into 2 chapters) and I'm now much more proud of what I have to show you today. I hope you like it too and I hope it was worth the wait.**

 **I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.**

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Marinette checked her make-up in the mirror one last time while Alya tapped her foot impatiently.

"Come on, Mari! I thought you were supposed to get there early," Alya said.

"I am, and I'm not late yet so calm down. Why didn't you just join the committee with me? It would be so much more fun."

"I already have enough to do with Ladybug stuff. Unlike you, I can't just take off a mask and run away." Alya winced at her choice of words. "Sorry, that came out harsh."

Marinette was too busy fretting to fully pay attention. "It's fine," she said, smoothing her hands over her dress distractedly. A sheer, red collar bordered a false sweetheart neckline. The chiffon material was more of a scarlet compared to the traditional Ladybug red with black rhinestones to form the spots. Like Alya, her dress had a hip slip. Unlike Alya's though, hers had nothing underneath, so the slit opened up to bare skin.

"You know, I don't see your signature anywhere on this one."

"That's because Marinette doesn't make anything for Ladybug. I'm not touching that mess with a ten-foot pole. Ladybug made this herself."

Alya blinked. "That's confusing."

"That's my life."

"What even is your life?"

Marinette fixed an imaginary wrinkle. "Alya, I don't even know anymore. What if he's down there? Do you think he'll like it? What if he doesn't like my dress?"

Alya groaned and walked over to grab her friend by the shoulders. "Who are you right now?"

"I am Ladybug."

"That's right, and what is Ladybug?"

"A superhero?" Marinette said questioningly, not sure where Alya was going with this.

"Try saying that again, but this time like you mean it."

"A superhero!" Marinette said, louder this time.

"An intelligent, hot, amazing superhero who saves Paris on a regular basis and this weekend you found your Chat Noir who is head over heels for you, and if he doesn't love you in this dress that man isn't straight. Heck, I'm straight, and I think you're hot in that dress."

Marinette smiled at her best friend's compliments. "I promise not to tell Nino."

"Pshhh. Nino's manhood can stand up to a small friend-crush. If he couldn't handle you and me, he and I wouldn't have made it as long as we have."

Marinette laughed. "Well, we'd best get going. We shouldn't keep our boys waiting."

They headed out together, Alya keeping them laughing to help Marinette's nerves. Guests hadn't arrived yet. Last minute check ups were going on as Marinette went to join the group in charge of the evening, all of whom wore hero-inspired formal wear. She noted that most of them were from DC or Marvel.

"Ladybug!" A man dressed like Captain America, whose name she knew to be Dave, called out, waving her over to the little powwow. "We were starting to get worried. You're just in time for us to go over the schedule for the night. Batman and Superman will be MC-ing. You're starting us out with the welcoming speech. We have a silent raffle going on over there, and the food will be in the back. Be sure to mention those. The MC's will take care of everything else. Are you good with that?"

"Yes," Marinette said.

Captain America nodded and moved on to the next thing on his list. Everyone knew what they were doing and what they were in charge of. Marinette was grateful that her contribution for the actual event was at the beginning and so minimal, because she really was looking forward to this chance to spend more time with Adrien. The group broke up with Marinette wandering over to the stage to make sure she was in place when they called her up. Breathing deep, she rehearsed her speech in her head. She realized she had cut it close to showtime because she didn't have to wait long for guests to start trickling in. Her nerves once more were derailed from her speech, and her eyes wandered in search of Adrien.

Alya came into view first, accompanied by Nino.

Alya entered walking backwards. Marinette was pretty sure she had her camera up and was recording something. What she recorded, Marinette wasn't sure, because Nino stood beside her blocking her view as he dutifully made sure she didn't run into anything. She waved to Nino; he saw her and waved back, then leaned down to say something to Alya. Instead of turning around, Alya said something to Nino, and he pulled his phone out and pointed it in her direction. Now both of them were recording.

Nervous ladybugs skittered in Marinette's stomach. She was pretty sure she knew who they were hiding. Alya stepped to the right while Nino stepped to the left to reveal Adrien. Adrien, who was dressed in a full tux, black with thin green pinstripes, a vest of deep charcoal, and a smoke grey shirt. Both were pinstripe as well. Around his neck was an emerald green skinny tie with a pocket square of the same color to complete the look. He wore his Chat Noir Mask and ears. Marinette thought him the handsomest man in the room. She beamed and waved.

Adrien on the other hand seemed to have temporarily ceased functioning. His eyes went comically wide and his jaw literally dropped. Marinette's wave faltered, and she felt her cheeks heat up. Adrien stood frozen as he stared, until Alya reached out from behind her camera and pushed his chin up with her finger.

That movement snapped him into action, and he began to move straight for her. Marinette's heart tightened in excitement. Keeping her eyes set on him, she was able to forget everything else, even Alya and Nino's phones trained on them.

"You look… amazing!"

She smiled shyly back up at him. "Thanks, you clean up pretty good yourself."

A fragile bubble formed around the two of them, shutting out the rest of the world. Marinette couldn't believe her luck. This boy – , no, cleaned up and dressed up like this, he clearly was a man (even with the cat ears) –, lookedwas looking at her with such astonishment and longing, it made her own heart ache. She saw the look on his face and realized he had been dreaming offor this moment just as much as she had. The urge to lean up and kiss him had never been stronger. She let her eyes roam, drinking in his impossibly perfect form. The way he leaned forward as if drawn to her; t. The way his hand twitched as if he were fighting the urge to reach out and grab her; t. The way his eyes seemed to be drinking her in just as much as she was. This impossible moment wasn't in her imagination. To see the desire burning in his eyes assured her in ways words never could the truth of his feelings for her. Now that it was here, both froze, neither wanting to rupture the bubble of a perfect moment that had formed around them. Each wanting to preserve it for as long as possible .

"Oh, just kiss already."

Marinette glared at Alya and the proverbial needle she had just stabbed in their moment. Alya leered fromom behind her camera.

"And just what are you planning to do with that?" Marinette demanded, gesturing to the still recording camera.

"I'm recording this for your future wedding. Or kids, which ever comes first."

"Turn that off, now!" Marinette hissed, marching over to her best friend, scarlet-faced.

Alya laughed and simply held it above her head. "Bit short for that, Mari."

"But I'm not." Adrien, as red-faced as Marinette, snuck up behind Alya and easily reached the phone to grab it out of her hands.

"Delete it! Delete it!" Marinette cried, while Alya tried to make a grab for her phone.

"How about a compromise?" Adrien offered.

Alya, realizing that she was, for once, too short,- leaned back to glare at him. "And what do you suggest?"

"I won't delete the video if you promise to stop filming the two of us for the rest of the night. Both of you."

Alya looked to Nino, who shrugged. This was her show and he was just along for the ride. She held out her hand to get her phone back. "Done."

Adrien placed the device in her palm, then turned to Marinette and grinned. "Satisfied, My Lady?"

Marinette returned the smile. "Clever kitty. Thank you."

Then the MCs took the stage, and the cheering crowd brought everyone's attention up to them. Marinette's breathing turned shallow and her hands started to shake as she fought the irrational impulse to wave them around as thought to fight off her self-doubt.

"Relax," Alya whispered, seeing the warning signs of an eminent panic attack. "You got this. Remember, you're Ladybug right now."

Marinette took a deep steadying breath and shot her friend a smile before she moved away to take her place at the edge of the stage.

"- and to kick off the night we'd like to have a word from none other than the infamous Ladybug!"

The Batman and Superman themed Con Goers gestured to Marinette as the crowd clapped for her. One last nervous breath and she stepped forward, towards the mic and to the podium. She flashed a confident smile at the crowd ; this was her moment, and she was in the zone. The moment for panicking Marinette had passed and the moment for confident Ladybug had arrived. She felt proud of herself when only the slightest of tremors showed when she reached for the mic. Confidence filled her when she saw Adrien in the crowd giving her a big thumbs up. "Thank you all for coming tonight. I know there were other options for tonight's activities that were free, but thank you for coming all the same and helping support the good cause of providing books for local libraries and schools." The crowd preened themselves at this, and she paused for a moment to let the compliment sink in.

"As a young girl, I was always a shy thing. It was thanks to the support of friends and family, both real and imagined from the many stories I read, that I was eventually able to become who I am today. Ladybug represents so much to me. She started out as a dream of a shy young girl and her adventurous best friend and has since become an ever increasingly popular comic book series and role model for children. I want to share Ladybug, and so many other friends among pages that helped give me courage, with our future generations in hopes of helping them too ." The crowd applauded at that, and she flashed a smile as she waited for them to quiet down.

"Please remember that tonight, and don't forget about our silent raffle. All proceeds from that and your tickets go to the charities we're supporting tonight, and along the back wall are refreshments. Once again, thank you all for coming. Batman, Superman, I'll give the mic back to you." She stepped away from the stand to let the other two take over, giving a graceful curtsy to the applauding crowd.

Adrien was down at the bottom waiting for her. Which was lucky, because she tripped on the stairs. He caught her with a laugh.

"Gosh darn heels!" Marinette exclaimed.

"I'm not complaining," Adrien assured her, his hands firmly around her waist as he looked her over to make sure she was alright. His eyes lingered on her exposed leg.

Marinette took the final step down and brought herself almost chest to chest with Adrien, taking her leg out of view, though he still wasn't looking at her face. "See something you like?"

Adrien coughed and stepped away, embarrassed. Marinette felt the cold air of the room rush in to take his place. Her exposed leg in particular felt cold, and she twitched her dress to cover it up and try to warm herself a little. Adrien noticed her movement. "Feeling cold?"

"I'm sure a little dancing would help warm me up," she said.

"Come on, then. Alya and Nino are waiting."

They joined their friends and danced together. Adrien, it turned out, was an excellent dancer; albeit a little overzealous. He kept trying to get Marinette to try and do crazy stunts like flips or spins, but she shied away from all but the mildest of spins. When the first slow song appeared Alya and Nino disappeared.

"Something mild, please?" Marinette begged, already a little breathless from trying to keep up with him. And laughing. He was really good at making her laugh .

His arms came to wrap around her waist. "We can just sway."

"Thank you," she said fervently, inching even closer to his tall, lean frame.

"I'll be honest; I don't really know any classical dance anyway."

"Really?"

"Yup." He popped the 'p' on the word which sent a puff of air tickling her ear. It was distracting. "I can't do much beyond the basic square waltz."

"I'm surprised," she said.

"I'm more into hip hop. I never really bothered with the classical stuff."

"Shame, you'd probably be good at it."

He flashed her his cheekiest grin. "If you promised to be my dance partner, I'd be willing to learn."

She laughed and let her head lay on his chest, enjoying the warmth and the proximity. "I'd be just as lost as you."

"Not true, My Lady. You have a natural grace that a ballerina would envy."

"I tripped on the stairs not half an hour ago."

"I thought that was just the universe declaring to everyone that you'd fallen for me."

She tried to groan, but his infectious laughter caused her to giggle as well. She found she liked how that felt, both their bodies pressed up against each other as they laughed.

"That was awful. You could probably help Alya write up some new puns for the real Chat Noir."

She looked up to see his eyes flash with excitement. "Do you think she'd really? Because I have a list at home that-" Marinette really did groan this time and thumped her head against his chest. "What? What did I say?"

"I'm dating a freaking fanboy."

The pout only lasted a moment before being replaced with an excited grin. "So we are dating?"

Marinette paused. "No, we're not. You have to go on a date before you can actually date."

Adrien sighed in exasperation. "And nothing we've done today counts as a date?"

"Technically it could, but I'd really rather not."

"Why?" Adrien asked, frustration clear in his voice.

"Because I'd rather our first date be something romantic and planned out rather than us hanging out while I'm working and you just happen to be there. Also, pardon me if I feel a little selfish in wanting my first date with you to be with the real me and not the girl in the mask."

He relaxed and brought his hand from her waist up to her cheek, leaning back so he could look into her eyes. "You are the same girl, in or out of the mask, but I understand the rest and I agree. I'd rather our first date be something planned and romantic as well. In fact, I have the perfect idea."

"What is it?"

His smile turned mischievous. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

She brought her lips into a pout and tilted her head up towards his. "And there's nothing I can do to convince you otherwise?"

His eyes zeroed in on her lip gloss. "I might be persuaded, but it'll cost you."

Her eyelashes fluttered invitingly. "Oh yeah?"

He started to lean down, but something flashed out of the corner of her eye and a familiar voice muttered a curse word. She whipped around to glare at Alya, who had one hand wrapped around Nino's neck and the other aiming her phone at her best friend.

"I thought we agreed you'd leave us alone?"

Alya gave her best devil-may-care smile. "No. We agreed I'd stop recording you. No one said anything about picture taking. Please, continue. Just pretend I'm not here."

Marinette growled. "Alya, we're sleeping in the same hotel room tonight. Watch it."

"And I believe that's our cue to leave," Nino said, twirling his girlfriend away so the two of them disappeared into the crowd.

"I'll send you the pics later!" Alya called over her shoulder before going out of view.

Marinette looked back to Adrien in time to see him mouth the words "thank you" and smacked him across the arm. "Don't encourage her."

"Ow. Can you blame a guy for wanting a memento of the best night of his life?"

Her irritation instantly softened, and when the slow song ended she pulled him away from the dance floor. "Come on, I need a drink."

He followed easily, taking her hand as they went. She smiled when she felt his long, warm fingers intertwine with hers and squeezed. He returned the gesture, then slipped ahead as the table came into view. He purchased drinks for both of them and returned to her side.

"Ever the gentleman," she teased.

"A fine lady deserves nothing less, My Lady," he said, taking a long gulp from his water bottle. She found herself distracted by the way his Adam's Apple bobbed as he swallowed . When he looked back down at her, she was still looking. "Are you alright?"

She snapped her attention back to his face. "What? Yeah. Just you distracted by. I mean distracted by you. I mean. Nothing! It was nothing, I was just distracted in general. Not by you. Not to say you're not distracting, I mean, have you looked in a mirror? You're Adonis-incarnate with cat ears in that suit, and I'm going to shut up now." She took a large swig of her water bottle to cork her traitorous mouth, only for it to backfire when she choked on it, putting herself in a coughing fit. At least it kept her from having to look him in the eyes.

Adrien reached out to rub soothing circles on her back, his fingers against the thin fabric leaving trails of fire across her back. His hand shook, and she peeked out of the corner of her eye to see his whole body trembling with barely contained mirth. "Marinette I-"

In a panic she reached out and slapped her hand over his mouth. "Shhhhh! When I'm Ladybug, you only call me Ladybug. No one can know who I am."

He was still trying to hold back his laughter, but his eyes lost their teasing quality and took on a kinder light. He took a few deep breathes to calm himself, and Marinette felt the warm air from his lungs slip through her fingers. Small tremors of excitement coursed through her. When he calmed down, he reached up and gently took her by the wrist to pull her hand away from his mouth, though not before sneaking a quick kiss onto her palm. Marinette's brain was ready to short circuit . "I apologize, My Lady, I won't let a slip of the tongue like that happen again." She relaxed a little only to have her shoulders shoot up past her ears at his next words. "But can you really blame me for losing my head a little when you're dressed like that and start spouting off words like 'Adonis-incarnate'?"

"Kitty, stop!" she whined, "I don't think my heart can take much more teasing."

He leaned down so his lips brushed her ear as he spoke. "And what do you think you've done to mine?" Her breath hitched, and she was pretty sure her legs were about to give out. He pulled back, wrapping one arm around her waist while the other cupped her cheek. He gazed down at her with the most tender expression she'd ever seen. "Stolen it completely, that's what you did."

His face blurred as her eyes filled with tears. Dammit! She really wanted to keep looking into his bright green eyes. "Adrien, I-"

He brought a single finger to her lips, silencing her just as effectively as she had him. "If I don't get to call you by your name tonight, then it's hardly fair that you get to call me by mine."

She blinked away her tears so she could look at him properly. "I don't think what I have to say will carry nearly the same weight and seriousness if I call you 'Kitty.'"

"Then I guess it'll just have to wait until we can both say what we want without masks. It'll mean more." His arm around her waist slipped out and took one of her hands hanging by her side. He pulled it up to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss across her knuckles, never breaking eye contact.

How could she possibly say no to that face? "Alright, Kitty, it's a deal then." She took a step back, taking her hand with her when a flash of red caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. "Alya, if you were recording that, I swear upon all that is holy that I will throw your phone in the punch bowl."

She turned to see that it was indeed Alya, standing defensively behind Nino, with her phone balanced on his shoulder. "No recordings, just photos. I'm a girl of my word."

"Don't you have something better to do?" Marinette asked in exasperation, one hand going to her hip as she shot her friend a halfhearted glare.

"Other than record my best friend get hit on by the suavest guy in the room and finally showing some game herself? Not really. Besides, you two are ridiculously photogenic together. See?" She flipped her phone around so she could swipe through some examples.

Marinette leaned forward, curious, and from the warmth at her back she could tell Adrien had done the same. She had to admit, her friend was right, thought she was tempted to chalk it up more to her friend's skill than her own personal good looks. Alya stopped at one that made her blush. Adrien leaned down, his face obscured by hers as his arm was already starting to snake around her shoulders. Her blue eyes were blown wide in shock and lust with her mouth open in a little 'o' of surprise as a light pink blush crept across her face.

"You know, I rather like that one," Adrien said, his face startlingly close to her own. "Do you think you could send it to me?"

Alya laughed, pulling her phone away. "Honey, I'll send them all to you. Now, come on; the night is young, and there's dancing to do."

They followed her to where Captain America and the rest of the Avengers were teaching everyone the Gangnam Style line dance in preparation for the song coming up next. When it did, all of the Avengers ran on stage to lead everyone in the dance. All four joined in enthusiastically.

After that, Batman and Superman took the stage once more. Batman took the mic, waving an envelope in the air. "Alright, now some of you have been waiting for this. We're going to announce the winner of the Superhero Ball Costume contest that took place earlier today. Just a reminder, you have to be present to win, so if any of your friends stepped out, you might want to text them to hurry back over here."

Some cheered, but most gathered in eager anticipation. Superman took the mic. "Now, before we announce the winner, we just wanted to invite everyone that participated to come up here and show off what you made, because really, you were all amazing and the judges wanted to let you know that they had a really hard time this year."

Alya gave Marinette's hand a squeeze and Nino a peck on the cheek before she went to go join the line that was forming along the stage. Marinette noted that Chloe wasn't among them.

Batman took the mic once more, "Aren't they stunning? I may be the Dark Knight, but all of these talented artists certainly brighten up my day . Let's give them all a round of applause."

Marinette obliged, joining in with the crowd. Adrien put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Batman waited until the crowd calmed down before speaking again. "Alright, can we get a drumroll, please?"

The DJ obliged and played a drumroll soundtrack.

"Get on with it!" Marinette wanted to yell. Instead, she grabbed Adrien's hand and clutched it nervously. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She kept her eyes riveted on the stage.

"And the winner is-" He made a show of opening the envelope and pulling out the card, "Mirielle Caquet!"

The crowd cheered. A woman in a Wonder Woman evening gown jumped up and down excitedly then ran up the steps to accept her prize. They handed her the certificate and a gift card to a local fabric shop. Marinette managed a polite clap, but couldn't hide the disappointment from her face.

Superman took the mic. "There were a few honorable mentions that the judges wanted to make note of. The first is Alya Cesaire-"

Marinette didn't hear anyone else mentioned after that, because she was too busy cheering for her best friend who had rushed up on stage, waving happily to everyone in the crowd. She blew a kiss in Nino's direction. All of the honorable mentions received certificates as well.

When everyone walked off the stage, the music started up again. Marinette wanted to rush up and squeal with her friend, but saw she was deep in conversation with someone she recognized to be one of the contest judges.

She respectfully held back until the conversation was finished, and her friend came barreling towards her to tackle her in a hug. Marinette hugged her back just as enthusiastically. "We won! We won!"

"I know! You did amazing. Guess what?" Alya pulled back so she could look her friend in the eyes.

"Do you know what that judge just said to me?"

"No. What?"

"That they wanted to pick your dress, but after the whole copycat incident thought it wouldn't be a good idea, so they made it an honorable mention instead."

"That's amazing! We'll have to try again next year," Marinette said.

"Yeah, but if that little thief hadn't stolen your idea you wouldn't have had to, because you'd have won this year."

"Which sucks, and trust me, I'm plenty frustrated, but there's nothing we can do about that now. I'm not going to let her ruin my night, so let's just be happy with what we got," Marinette said.

Alya beamed at her friend and threw her arms around her in another hug. "You are the absolute best. You hear that cat boy? You have a lot to live up to if you want to be worthy of dating her!"

Marinette squealed in embarrassment and slapped her best friend on the arm, but Adrien just chuckled. "Oh trust me, I know. I'm working on it."

Marinette was too embarrassed to say anything to that and let Alya lead them all out to the dance floor to get swept up in the music.

* * *

 **Please tell me what you think. My friend gave me some ideas for a second story in this AU, but I want to know if enough people care for me to bother trying to write it out. Thanks again for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I just wanted to give a big thank you to my friend Ashna for helping design all of the formal wear in this story and my friend Shauntel who helped with editing even though this isn't her fandom. There are pictures, but I don't know where to post them. Thank you to all of those who read and especially to those who reviewed. You're all so very kind! I've had a blast doing this.**

 **I do not own Miraculous Ladybug.**

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They had been dancing for a while when Alya and Nino appeared by their side once more. "We're just letting you know that we're heading back to the hotel room first."

Marinette turned from where she and Adrien were dancing. "Thanks for the heads up. I'll be here a while longer. I promised to help with clean up and take down."

Alya nodded. "I know Manon is around here somewhere. If you could keep her down here for an hour, that would be appreciated."

Marinette gave them a mock salute. "Enjoy your evening."

"Why don't they just get their own hotel room?" Adrien asked as he watched the two retreating figures.

Marinette gave a long-suffering sigh, but she watched her friends disappear with an affectionate twinkle in her eye. "I ask them that every time we go to one of these events, but it's cheaper and easier overall if we share."

Manon chose then to show up. She wore a black dress with greek sleeves that came to a "v" in front, and a deeper "v" in back with a handkerchief skirt that didn't quite cover her black ballet flats. A Black Widow style belt at her waist brought in the superhero theme. "I'm starting to get bored. I was thinking of heading back up."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Nino and Alya just left and they asked to not be disturbed," Marinette warned.

Manon huffed. "Well what am I supposed to do in the meantime then?"

"I'll dance with you," Adrien said.

Manon looked at him dubiously. "Are you any good?"

"He's good," Marinette said, stepping back so Manon could take her place. "I actually wanted to take a break anyway. I need to pace myself if I'm going to be here all night. Have fun, Manon!" Marinete walked over to where chairs lined one of the walls and discreetly slipped off her heels to rub her feet. She watched the two stand beside each other awkwardly as they tried to figure out what to do.

A swing song came on and Captain America was up on stage once more, this time with Black Widow. Adrien leaned forward to whisper something in her ear and Manon smiled, finally taking his hand. They started off with a basic swing step while they got used to the other's movements, but things quickly got wild from there. Marinette's sore feet were forgotten as she watched the pair. He kept the kicks basic for Manon, but they got faster and faster.

Manon had a surprising amount of skill herself. She took cues well for when to spin out. Marinette saw Adrien say something which she thought she lip-read as "Do you trust me?" Whatever it was, Manon nodded enthusiastically.

Next thing anyone knew, Adrien had popped Manon onto his hip and swung her up and over his shoulder with her squealing the whole way. If they didn't have a crowd watching them then, they most certainly did now. A half-circle had formed around them, corralling them nearer the stage. Captain America back flipped off the stage and declared in a voice that Marinette could hear from where she sat, "I CHALLENGE YOU!"

Manon, who was laughing gleefully now, replied, "It's on!"

The crowd went wild. Whipping out phones and screaming their enthusiasm.

Now this she couldn't miss. Marinette pulled her own phone out and went back into the crowd to record this for Alya. The DJ overheard the call out and whipped out the Lindy Hop for the two of them. While Captain America and his Black Widow had more skill, Manon and Adrien made up for their lack-there-of through enthusiasm and daring. Captain America and Black Widow did a true Lindy Hop twirling and kicking around the circle. Adrien and Manon tried to follow them, but when they found themselves outclassed, they simply decided to do their own thing and switched to hip hop.

Captain America threw up his arms in a 'what the heck?!" gesture and tried to follow suit. Here though, it was clear Adrien had him outclassed. They tried to keep up, but Adrien and Manon were just too wild for them.

Batman and Superman were refereeing the dance battle and declared them the winner. The crowd screamed – some from objection, but most from approval. Both couples laughed and shook hands, then a sweaty, but thoroughly delighted Adrien saw Marinette and tackled her in a hug, picking her up and swinging her around.

"I won! I won!"

Marinette laughed. "I saw. I saw."

He set her down and turned back to Manon. "Glad you stayed now?"

"Yes! Thank you. Ooooh, Alya's going to be so jealous that she missed this!"

Adrien chuckled at that and gave Manon a pat on the head. "We'll have to do it again sometime and show her."

Manon's eyes grew wide with excitement. "There's a club near where I live that has teen night once a month. Would you go with me?"

"I don't see a problem with that, but I'm an old man and need to go sit down for a bit. You go have fun."

She laughed and ran off to find a new dance partner, her enthusiasm rekindled, leaving Adrien and Marinette alone. "You realize you just agreed to go out on a date with another girl right in front of me," she teased.

Adrien laughed as he sat down in one of the metal chairs. "I wouldn't really call that going out on a date, more hanging out with a little sister. Unless you have a problem with it?"

He looked her in the eye, and she saw that if she told him she did he would cancel on Manon. It touched her. "No, it's alright," she assured him. "I've babysat Manon since she was this tall. " She held a hand about two feet off the ground. "She's like family, and I know it would make her mother happy if there was someone responsible going with her when she went out. I know she's been going there for a while now, but it still makes her mother nervous. Me too, if I'm honest. I go with her sometimes, but it's not really my thing. Too many people."

"You seem to be handling this pretty well," he said, gesturing around the room.

She reached up and tapped her face where the mask was still glued in place. Adrien's was starting to come off, the sweat deteriorating the spirit gum. "Amazing the difference a piece of plastic can make, and you'll notice, that I didn't dance near as much as you did. Though now that I've seen how good you actually are, I might be tempted to try some time."

His face lit up. "Right now?"

She laughed and booped his nose. "Not now silly kitty. I think we'd still need to practice a bit for me to overcome my stage fright, but sometime in the future? Sure."

He gave her a warm smile. "You know what that means, right?"

"What?"

"You just agreed to a second date."

She returned his smile. "I believe you're right. Guess you better make it a pretty spectacular first date if you wanna keep the second."

"Oh, it will be," he assured her confidently.

She leaned back with a sigh, happy to just bask in his company. He seemed equally happy to do the same. They watched Manon, now the belle of the ball, jump from partner to partner, content to let her have her moment in the spotlight in favor of their personal time together. Not everyone had gotten that memo though.

Most girls saw Adrien sitting with Marinette, and went in search of a different dance partner. But a certain brunette decided to not let that deter her.

"Hi, I'm Lila, would you like to dance?"

Marinette stiffened beside him, but she said nothing.

"I'm still tired from my last dance. Thanks for asking though," Adrien said dismissively.

Lila pouted prettily. "Well, if you change your mind, let me know."

As she sauntered off Adrien looked down at her with a small smirk. "Were you jealous?"

Marinette scowled and refused to make eye contact. "No."

"I think you're lying," he said, smirk growing.

"I think you're imagining things."

"I think I'm ready to go back to the room now," a third voice said.

Both jumped and turned to see Manon standing in front of them looking tired, but good-spirited. Marinette fumbled to let go of Adrien's hand and stand up. "Oh, I'll walk you back."

"No, I'm good. I just came to tell you so you could send a warning text to Alya and Nino. My phone is dead." She held up her phone to show its black screen.

"No, it's far too late, and there are too many intoxicated people running around this time of night. Your mother would kill me if anything happened to you."

"I'm fine," Manon insisted.

"No, she's is right, you shouldn't go alone, but I'll walk you back instead of her," Adrien said.

"Oh no, I couldn't ask that of you," Marinette said.

"You didn't have to. I'm offering. Besides, you should stay here in case they need you for anything."

Marinette huffed. "I guess that'll work."

"Um, guys. Still here, and still perfectly capable of walking across the street to the hotel room by myself," Manon said.

Adrien flashed a gallant smile. "But why walk alone when you could have a dashing, young knight escort you?"

Marinette snorted. "More like stray cat."

Adrien stuck his tongue out at her as he took Manon's hand and put it on his arm. "I was trying to be charming."

"Just go. The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll be back, and don't bother arguing Manon because I'm putting my foot down," Marinette said, waving them off.

They left, and Marinette sent a text to Alya, warning her friend of the impending company. She sat back in her chair to quietly watch the crowd while she waited. A shadow fell across her view. She looked up and saw the brunette from before.

She still had that over bright smile on her face that Marinette didn't trust. "Hi, I'm Lila, what's your name?"

"I'm Ladybug," Marinette said.

Lila snorted. "Right, the comic book artist who tries to be popular by pretending to be her own superhero. Aren't you a little old for that?"

Marinette raised an eyebrow at her and slowly stood from her chair. It didn't help much in the height department as she still barely passed the girl's shoulder, but she wasn't about to take this sitting down. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I just wanted to get to know you better."

Marinette didn't believe her, but also didn't want to cause a scene. "It's fine, you're not the first person to say something like that."

Lila examined her manicure. "Where'd that guy who was sitting next to you go?"

"Out," Marinette said.

"When's he coming back?"

"Don't know."

"Are you two dating?"

"I don't see why that's any of your business," Marinette said tartly.

Lila gave her a shrewd look, her fake kindness rapidly falling away. "I'll take that as a no then."

Marinette remained silent.

"If you're not dating him, you really don't have to right to be hogging him like you were. He's free game to whoever wants him."

Marinette put her hands on her hips, rapidly losing her patience with this girl. "Just as he's free to choose who he does or doesn't spend time with."

Lila scowled at her. "Don't play in games you can't win."

Marinette's eye twitched. "This isn't a game and he isn't some prize. He's a person with his own free will."

Lila smirked and leaned down condescendingly to Marinette's eye level. "Looks like someone's afraid of losing. Do you even know who he is?"

"He's a personal friend of mine, so yes I do, but if he's not giving his name out then I'm not telling you."

"That's Adrien Agrest, the software engineer. Owner of Miraculous Industries," Lila said, with a toss of her hair.

Marinette felt like an idiot. How could she not have known that? Sure, she knew he was well off, he was one of the few who never argued or haggled prices with her even when he was buying multiple custom fit costumes at a time. She thought back and tried to remember what he'd said he did for work, she was pretty sure it was something to do with computers. Sher realized that she'd been silent for too long but, Marinette just gaped at her, unsure how to formulate her outrage into words. Thankfully she didn't have to, because Adrien chose then to reappear. Lila spotted him first and swept away with her hips swinging dramatically.

"How 'bout that dance now?" she purred, reaching up to grab his tie .

His eyes bulged in shock, and he caught Marinette's eye before she stormed off towards the drinks. She didn't want to see his answer. She didn't want to see him dancing with her draped all over him. She didn't want to lose control and punch someone in the face.

Actually, yes she did, but she wasn't sure who yet.

A hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder. Instinctively, she grabbed the pinky and bent it back. "OW! Okay, okay, mercy!"

Marinette whirled around to see Adrien, his eyes watering with pain. She let go of his finger and jumped back. "You startled me!"

He rubbed his hand. "I got that. Next time I'll just say something."

"What are you doing here?"

He frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I thought you'd be dancing with Lila."

"Who's Lila?" he asked.

"That brunette you were just talking to," Marinette said, unable to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"Oh, her. She was, umm, friendly, but you looked upset, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Marinette felt her heart swell with affection for the man in front of her. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, burying her face in his chest. He gave a small 'omf' of surprise, but returned the hug.

"I'm not complaining or telling you to stop, but could you please tell me what I did to earn this?" Adrien asked, his arms tightening around her.

She looked up at him and grinned. "You were you."

"Uh, yeah, I'm going to need more detail than that, because I'd really like this to happen again, so I want to know exactly what I did right."

Marinette laughed and stepped back. He released her after a moment's hesitation. "You saw I was upset and came to check on me even though there was a very attractive woman practically throwing herself at you."

"Ah, well, that's not exactly a situation I can recreate at will. Dang it."

She laughed once more, long and hard this time. He looked pleased with himself. "Don't worry. Just keep being you, and you'll be just fine."

He beamed at her. "Glad to know you think I'm paw-some."

Marinette groaned, "No puns, please. I'm begging you."

"But you write them in your comic books all the time!"

"No, I don't. Alya writes the dialog, I just draw the pictures."

Adrien snorted.

"What?"

"'Just draw the pictures'. That's like saying the T.A.R.D.I.S. is just a phone booth. There's so much more to it than that. You're amazingly talented in everything you make. You about killed me with how gorgeous you look in that dress, and you made it which makes it even more amazing. If this was an anime I'd have had a nosebleed by now. Actually, like, ten nosebleeds."

Marinette laughed and hugged him once more. "You're such a dork!"

"If being a dork gets me a hug, what gets me a kiss?"

She smirked up at him, and he had to crane his neck to look at her face against his chest. "Just keep doing what you're doing, but do it on a date."

He made a strangled noise. "I have to wait until then?"

"That'll give you a reason to not dawdle on it."

"Oh trust me, I wasn't planning on waiting long."

The rest of the evening passed quickly. They danced a few songs, flirted some more, and Marinette savored every moment of it. She only saw Lila one more time, and the look on her face was priceless. She thought puce was a good word to describe her. She had to bite her lip to keep from sticking her tongue out at the other girl.

When the MC's called out that it was the last song of the night, most of the crowd had already trickled out to go to bed. Adrien danced with her one last time, then opted to stay behind and help her with the disassembly. The tired workers were all glad to accept an extra pair of hands. The room lost its magic with all the decoration packed away. Adrien gallantly offered her his arm, just as he had for Manon.

"If the lady would be so kind as to let me escort her?"

Marinette laughed and looped her arm through his. "The lady would be delighted."

They chattered aimlessly on the walk back to her hotel room. Marinette swayed slightly from exhaustion, and Adrien unlooped his arm so he could wrap it around her shoulders. She let herself snuggle up to his side with a happy sigh, thinking to herself about how nice it would be to cuddle him all night. She wasn't even fully aware they'd reached her room until he pulled his arm away. The cold air replacing his warmth shocked her into some semblance of awake. She blinked at him with a happy, sleepy smile.

"Thank you so much for tonight, and all of today really. It wouldn't have been nearly as fun without you," she said.

He gave her a pleased smile. "I'm glad. It was a really good day for me too." Marinette tried, and failed, to smother a yawn. He chuckled lightly. "You should go to bed. You look dead on your feet."

Marinette pouted. "I don't want to. I don't want tonight to end."

"I'll see you tomorrow, My Lady," he said, gently pushing her towards her door.

She sighed and pulled out her key card, but after she'd slipped it into the reader he spoke once more. "Marinette?"

She turned to him. "Yes?"

He pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side, not seeming sure of what to say. Finally, he reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling it up to his mouth to place a gentle kiss on it. "Good night."

He turned and walked away, leaving her breathless by the door. After a moment, she shook herself and turned once more to let herself in. "It was only your hand, get a hold of yourself," she muttered under her breath as she painstaking got ready for bed, despite her exhausted body pleading to just drop onto the mattress.

She replayed the night in her head and sighed happily. The only thing keeping her from squealing in delight was her own exhaustion and the three sleeping forms already in the room. Finally ready, she curled up in the bed she shared with Manon and fell asleep.

But not before allowing herself one tiny squee into her pillow.

* * *

 **I think we'll end this here. I'm not done with this AU, but I feel like this is a good ending to this story arc. Keep your eyes out for their date it should be coming in the next week or two! I'm still in the midst of moving, but should be done with that by mid-August. Thank you all for being so patient and kind! Hugs for everyone! (^-^)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, so I'll officially be coming out with my book 2 to this on Wednesday. The title will be called Miraculous Date for now, because I can't think of what else to call it though the story will include more than just their first date. I'm officially moved in and with my life a little bit more in order so I should do better about not missing posting days. Thank you all so much for following me this far. For those who asked, yes, they will finally kiss… eventually. I'm not nice. 3:)**

 **But it WILL happen. More than once. I promise. Please don't kill me. It will also be a little bit more mature than the previous one. Not a lot, just a little. I'd say more, but I don't want to give anything else away.**

 **Now on to the date!**


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